An tEach Uisce - The Water Horse

le Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill Ar dtúis ba ina cuid taibhrí amháin a thagadh sé chun luí léi. 1. Ansan lá go raibh sí in ainm is a bheith ag aoireacht ba i gCuaisín na gCaorach, (bhí sí ag léamh The Old Curiosity Shop le Charles Dickens is gan aon chuimhneamh aici ar bha ná a leithéid) cad a chonaic sí ach na muca mara ina scuaine amuigh sa chuan. Do gheit a croí: is ann a cheap sí gurb iad na beithígh go léir aici féin a bhí tar éis titim le haill go hobann isteach sa tsruth. Cheap sí go bhfaigheadh sí leathmharú sa bhaile dá bharr is do léim suas le teann líonrith ague uamhain sarar thuig sí cad a bhí suas. B’shin é an chéad uair a thaibhsigh sé chúichi ar an láthair.	translation by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin At first it was only in her dreams That he came and lay with her. On the day She was supposed to be minding the cows In Sheep Cove (she was reading Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop, And cows were the last thing on her mind) She saw the porpoises flocking out in the bay. Her heart almost stopped. She thought they were her cows, all of them Fallen at once from the cliff to the water. She thought she’d get a hammering at home And she had jumped up in her agitation Before she saw what the bodies were. That was the first time he appeared to her there.
2. Ina dhiaidh sin tháinig sé arís is arís chúichi. Ar dtúis b’ait léi an t-éadach aisteach a bhí air: an lúireach, na loirgneáin cnámh éisc, is an cafarr, na lámhainní fada déanta de chraiceann bradán is scadán. Ní raibh aon oidhre eile air, dar léi, d’fhéadfá a rá, ach carachtar neamhdhaonna éigin ó Bh-scannán — ‘An Créatúir ón Lagún Gorm’ nó fiú King Kong. Ach nuair a bhain sé do an clogad a bhí ar a cheann is chraith a mhoing bhreá ruainní anuas ar a ghualainn chonaic sí go soiléir ainsin gurbh fhear óg a bhí ann.	And after that He came to her again and again. At first his clothing seemed so strange to her: The breastplate, the fishbone greaves and the casque, The long gloves made from the skin of eels, His whole style recalling The sub-human creatures from B movies: The Creature from Black Lagoon, or an Irish cousin of King Kong. But when he took the helmet from his head And his fine horse’s mane loosened on his shoulders She saw clearly that he was a young man.
3. Ansan tháinig lá gur chuir sé a cheann ina hucht. Bhí na míolta móra ag búirthíl thíos fúthu faoi loch is na muca mara ina dtáinte gléigeala mórthimpeall. (Sa tráthóna thiar do chonaic daoine a bhí ar an gcnoc le ba iad.) Is i dteanga éigin iasachta a thuig sí cé nárbh fhéidir léi na focail a dhéanamh amach i gceart, d’iarr sé uirthi a cheann a ghlanadh is na míola a bhí ag crá an chinn air a chnagadh lena hingne fada.	Then came the day He laid his head on her breast. The sea-creatures were hooting below them on the water And the porpoises in shining troops around them. (Later in the evening They were seen by people out after cows on the mountain.) And in a foreign tongue she understood Though she could not properly make out the words, He asked her to comb his hair And crush with her long nails The creatures that were pestering his head.
4. Do dhein sí amhlaidh. Bhí sí ag portaireacht go bog faoina hanáil is í á bhréagadh nuair a baineadh aisti an phreab is gheit a croí uirthi; bhí dúlamán is duileascar cloch ag fás i measc rútaí na gruaige aige. Thuig sí láithreach cad a bhí suas is nár mhaith an earra é. Ansan nuair a bhraith sí barraí na gcluas aige thuig sí leis nach ar Labhraidh Lorc amháin sa scéal a bhí na cluasa capaill.	She did what he asked. She was humming softly under her breath Soothing him, when she got the fright That stopped her heart again: seaweed and rock dillish Were growing among the roots of his hair. She guessed at once what was going on And that it was bad news. Then When she felt the tips of his ears she knew That not only Labhraidh Loric in the old story Had ears like a horse’s ears.
5. Cé gur bhrúcht brat fuarallais trína craiceann amach do bhain sí míotóg amháin nó dhó nó trí as a cromán is ní dúirt sí faic. Lean sí uirthi ar feadh an ama ag cíoradh a chinn, ag crónán is ag portaireacht, ag gabháilt de shuantraithe is de ghiotaí beaga amhrán, á bhréagadh is á mhealladh de shíor chun suain. Ansan nuair a bhraith sí faid osnaíle ag teacht ina anáil, do scaoil sí snaidhmeanna a haprúin go cúramach is go mear	Yet although the cold sweat was running down her skin She gave herself a pinch in the thigh Or two or three, and said nothing. She went on combing his hair the whole time Humming and murmuring Lullabies and scraps of songs To soothe him and beguile him into sleep And then when she heard his breathing Changing to the sighs of a sleeper She undid the strings of her apron Gently and quickly
6. is thug dos na bonnaibh é Rith sí ins na tréinte tríd an bhfaill go tigh a muintire. Ar dtúis is slaod gibirise amháin i dtaobh rútaí feamnaí is cluasa capaill a d’eascair as a béal. Ar deireadh nuair a tuigeadh le deacaireacht agus faoi dheoidh do lucht an tí cad a bhí á rá aici, d’aithníodar láithreach is ar an bpointe boise gurb é an t-each uisce é. D’éiríodar airm is a n-éide catha, is ritheadar amach ina mbuíon armtha ar tí a mharaithe.	And she ran for it, She made it up the cliffs in a flash To the house of her people. At first, All they could get from her was a streel of nonsense About seaweed roots and horse’s ears. At length, When her people at home had laboured to make out The meaning of what she was saying, they knew at once Right on the spot that it was the water horse. They rose up and put on their clothes, Their battle-gear and took their weapons. And out they went as an armed patrol To find and kill him.
7 Bhí seans léi, a dúirt na héinne, ina dhiaidh san. Bhí, agus gur dhóbair di — aon bharrthuisle amháin, aon ghníomh ar bith ceataí is bhí sí ite aige, scun scan, beo beathúch, cnámha agus uile. Trí lá i ndiaidh na tubaiste seans go mbeadh a hae, an dá scámhóig aici is na duáin le piocadh suas acu ar bharra taoide. B’fhíor dóibh, do thuig sí san. Mar sin féin do luigh imeachtaí an lae úd go trom uirthi. Do shuigh sí síos ar fhaobhar na faille lá i ndiaidh lae eile	Afterwards they all said she was lucky. She was, and it was a near thing; one slip, One step awry and he’d have swallowed her, Right down, live and kicking, blood and bones. Three days after the event They might have found her liver, a couple of lungs and kidneys Picked up around the high-tide mark. That was the sort of beast he was. It was true for them, she knew it. And yet she felt the story of that day Lie heavy on her. She’d sit there on the cliff edge Day after day.
8. is í ag cuimhneamh ar loinnir uaithne na súl bhfiarsceabhach aige a d’fhéach uirthi le fonn a bhí chomh simplí san is chomh glan, folláin, ina shlí féin le hampla ocrais; drithle rithimeach na ngéag donn is conas a chaolaíodar ina riostaí cúnga ag rí na láimhe aige	And she thought about the green gleam In the strange eyes that had looked at her with desire, That was as simple, clean, clear In its own way as a hearty hunger; The rhythmic shining of his brown limbs And how they narrowed to slim wrists And the shape of the hands.

. 9. Thar aon ní eile do chuimhnigh sí ar mhatáin iallaithe a choirp a bhí chomh haiclí is chomh teann le bogha i bhfearas. An teannas a bhí ann, mar a bheadh sprionga tochraiste a bheadh ar tinneall i gcónaí is réidh faoi bhráid a athscaoilte.	More than all else she remembered the muscular Weave of his body that was tense And light as a tightened bow. The spring Wound up, alert, constantly Ready to be released again.

Courtesy of Jack & Vivian IrishPage.com 2024
Replay music: Metwater.mid
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